OSHA failed to check collapsed silo

The Tyson feed mill, where a grain silo collapse last week killed one worker, had not been visited by federal inspectors in almost two decades, according to documents from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Federal safety regulators had not conducted an inspection since 1991 at a southwest Arkansas grain silo that collapsed and killed a Tyson Foods Inc. worker last week, according to documents from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The federal agency, which oversees safety at private and federal workplaces in Arkansas and other states, is investigating the cause of the Nashville, Ark., silo collapse, said OSHA spokesman Juan Rodriguez.

Too small for visit

The mill has about 30 employees, and OSHA spokesman Juan Rodriguez told the Texarkana Gazette newspaper that its inspectors usually don't schedule visits to sites with fewer than 40 workers.

The federal agency is investigating the cause of the collapse. Tyson closed its Nashville feed mill after the accident so other structures at the site could be inspected.

It took more than 12 hours to retrieve the worker’s body from the mass of corn and concrete that tumbled from the silo. A cadaver-sniffing dog located Needham's corpse.

The death is the sixth in Arkansas in the last decade at facilities owned by Springdale-based Tyson Foods.

Tyson Foods issued a statement after Needham's death pledging cooperation with authorities investigating the cause of the collapse.